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IVOV   9    1915 


Education 


V: 


To  the  Reader- 

If  this  little  booklet  will  but  inspire 
one  citizen  of  our  State  to  use  his  or 
her  efforts  toward  promoting  the  con- 
servation of  our  wild  life  its  purpose  will 
be  accomplished. 

California  Fish  and 
Game  Commission 


Lest  We  Forget 

That  fifty  years  ago  there  were  hundreds  of  thous- 
ands of  Bison  roaming  our  hills  and  plains,  while  today 
there  are  less  than  500  in  the  entire  country. 

393225 


PASSENGER    PIGEON 


Not  many  years  ago  the  market  hunters  of  the 
Middle  States  killed  millions  of  these  beautiful  birds 
each  year. 

Today  one  may  travel  from  the  Gulf  to  the  Great 
Lakes  without  so  much  as  seeing  one. 

The  last  known  Passenger  Pigeon  died  in  the  Cin- 
cinnati Zoo  on  January  twenty-first.  Nineteen  hundred 
and  fifteen. 

SHALL  OUR  UPLAND  BIRDS  AND  WATER- 
FOWL SUFFER  THE  SAME 
UNTIMELY  FATE? 


•t 


Could  there  be  a  more  pitiful  sight  than  this  helpless 
little  fawn  which  has  been  robbed  of  its  only  pro- 
tection through  the  thoughtlessness  or  greed  of  some 
hunter? 

Let  us  take  only  what  the  law  eJlows,  that  the  next 
generation  may  enjoy  the  same  pleasures  that  the 
fields  emd  streams  of  our  glorious  State  now  cifford  us. 


Why  Save  the  Fish 
and  Game? 


The  courts  have  held  that  wild  game  is  the  property 
of  the  p)eople,  and  can  be  hunted,  killed,  possessed  and 
disposed  of  only  as  the  people  direct.  It  is  believed 
that  this  State  has  some  of  the  most  effective  and  most 
just  laws  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  wild  game  ever 
enacted  by  a  commonwealth.  These  laws  seem  to 
insure  the  p)erp)etuation  of  the  supply.  But  these 
laws  would  not  serve  their  full  purpose  if  they  did  not 
guarantee  our  people  and  posterity  the  opportunity  of 
recreation,  hunting  and  fishing. 

The  Fish  and  Game  Commission  and  the  Legislature 
of  the  State,  ever  mindful  of  the  fact  that  the  boy  and 
the  young  man  are  full  of  the  instinct  for  sport,  have 
wisely  framed  the  laws  in  such  manner  as  to  save  to 
the  people  their  inherent  right  to  hunting.  The  boy 
that  lives  a  natural,  outdoor  life,  hunting,  fishing  and 
playing  strenuous  games  is  not  the  chap  who  loafs 
around  corners  shooting  craps  and  smoking  cigarettes. 
Furthermore,  the  boy  who  learns  how  to  care  for  him- 
self in  the  woods  and  to  shoot  straight  makes  the  finest 
soldier  in  the  world  in  the  time  of  national  peril. 

Is  it  not  better  to  train  our  soldiers  this  way,  than  to 
destroy  the  game  and  the  incentive  to  hunting — and 
then  raise  an  army  by  conscription — and  at  that  an 
army  that  cannot  shoot  straight! 

Game  conservation  is  more  than  a  masculine  pro- 
blem ;  it  is  a  national  question,  in  which  every  girl  and 
every  woman  is  vitally  concerned. 


.v»?s* 


BIRDSEYE    VIEW    OF    ONE    SECTION    OF    HATCHERY    AND 
FINEST   IN    THE   WORLD.      MO 


»  »  >     >  »  : 


OUNDS    AT   SISSON.    CAL.      ONE    OF  THE    LARGEST    AND 
SHASTA    IN    BACKGROUND. 


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Fish  Facts. 

Do  you  know  that  California  is  one  of  the  greatest 
fishing  regions  of  the  world  ? 

When  white  men  first  came  here  they  found  fish  only 
in  the  oceans,  bays  and  in  streams  up  to  the  first  water- 
falls and  of  comparatively  few  species.  Since  then  the 
FedereJ  and  State  authorities  have  introduced  many 
valuable  and  interesting  varieties,  have  eirtificially  prop>- 
agated  hundreds  of  millions  at  the  hatcheries  and  have 
"planted"  and  "transplanted"  almost  every  sF>ecies,  so 
that  today  fishing  is  enjoyed  in  practically  every  bit  of 
living  water  in  the  State. 

In  1914  the  State  Fish  and  Gcime  0>mmission  prop- 
agated at  its  seven  hatcheries  and  distributed  in  public 
waters  30,000,000  salmon  and  18,000,000  trout.  These 
fish  if  placed  end  to  end  would  reach  from  San  Fran- 
cisco to  a  point  1  50  miles  east  of  Denver.  They  would 
fill  four  standard  freight  trains  of  43  cars  each,  weighing 
over  4000  tons.  The  total  would  provide  each  man, 
woman  and  child  in  the  State  with  1 6  fish. 

There  is  no  locality  in  the  civilized  world  that  offers 
a  greater  variety  of  sport  than  the  mountains,  valleys 
and  waters  of  the  State  of  California. 

For  instance,  the  business  man  of  centKilly  located  Sem 
Francisco  can  boeird  an  evening  train  emd  at  dawn  of 
the  following  morning  cast  his  fly  upwn  the  snow-fed 
waters  of  a  Sierra  stream,  returning  in  the  evening  with 
a  limit  basket. 

Intense  propagation  and  conscientious  protection  is 
the  one  thing  that  make  such  ideal  conditions  possible. 

The  entire  cost  of  rearing,  distributing  and  protecting 
fish  in  this  State  is  borne  by  the  market  and  pleasure 
fishermen.  Not  one  cent  is  contributed  by  the  teix- 
piayer  through  legislative  appropriation. 

Four  thousand  people  are  engaged  in  catching  fish 
for  the  market.  Their  "catch"  sells  to  the  consumer 
for  around  $10,000,000  each  year. 


Just  A  Few  Facts  and 
Figures. 

The  "Closed  Season"  laws  are  the  most  important  of 
all.  They  protect  birds,  animals  and  fishes  during  and 
after  the  breeding  periods.  The  killing  of  the  female 
during  such  times  means  the  loss  of  an  entire  family. 
Besides,  all  breeding  animals  and  certainly  their  young 
are  pra(5lically  defenseless  and  need  all  the  protection 
man  can  give  them. 

The  "  Limit  Laws"  curb  the  thoughtless  and  selfish 
and  guarantee  the  decent  hunter  and  fisherman  his 
share  in  the  sport  and  its  product.  Certainly  such  laws 
are  most  American  in  spirit. 

America  is  one  of  the  few  populous  countries  in 
which  the  "common  people"  enjoy  the  hunting  privilege. 
Furthermore  this  country  has  few  big  preserves  and 
consequently,  little  game  is  raised  by  wealthy  people  for 
their  own  enjoyment.  Here  everyone  hunts  and  fishes, 
with  few  exceptions  on  an  equal  basis  and  a  great  deal 
of  fish  and  game  is  killed.  The  private  preserve  system 
would  give  us  more  game,  but  the  wealthy  classes 
would  get  all  the  benefits. 

Probably  20,000  deer  are  killed  in  this  state  each  year. 
The  annual  kill  of  wild  ducks  is  around  1 ,000,000 
and  of  wild  geese  about  200,000.  The  stock  need  not 
be  exterminated  however  as  the  wild-fowl  that  winter 
here  have  most  of  the  northern  regions  for  their  nesting 
grounds. 

The  California  valley  quail  is  said  to  be  the  finest 
"upland"  game  bird  in  the  world.  This  bird  is  found 
everywhere  in  the  state  but  has  been  over-hunted 
badly.  Unless  the  killing  is  greatly  reduced  this  bird 
will  disappear. 

The  only  geone  bird  ever  successfully  reared  extens- 
ively in  captivity  is  the  English,  known  also  as  the 
Chinese  and  ring-necked  pheasant.  Thousands  of  these 
birds  have  been  raised  at  the  State  Game  Farm  and 
liberated  in  the  moist  coast  region. 


The  State  Fish  and  Game  Commis- 
sion is  entirely  self-supporting,  receiving 
its  annual  revenue  of  about  $300,000 
from  the  sale  of  hunting  and  fishing 
licenses  and  from  fines  collected  from 
violators  of  the  laws.  The  Commission 
has  four  business  offices  and  about  1 20 
employees.  Realizing  the  necessity  of 
giving  important  duties  into  the  care  of 
competent  assistants,  the  Commission 
employs  only  highly  trained,  energetic 
and  conscientious  weirdens.  Every  de-' 
partment  of  the  Commission  is  under  the 
stricter  of  civil  service  control. 

For  further  information  relative  to  fish 
and  game  in  California  or  to  the  work 
of  the  Fish  and  Game  Commission  in- 
quire of  any  of  its  officers  or  at  the  offices 
at  San  Francisco,  Los  Angeles,  Sacra- 
mento or  Fresno. 


THIS    BOOKLET    IS    ISSUED    BY 
THE 

FISH    AND    GAME    COMMISSION 

OF    THE 
STATE    OF    CALIFORNIA 

COMMIMSIONKKH 

F.    M.    NEWBERT,    PRESIDENT 

M.    J.    CONNELL 

CARL    WESTERFELD 

ERNEST     SCHAEFFLE 
EXECUTIVE    OFFICER 

KXKCimVK  OFKICKS 

MILLS   BUILDING.   SAN    FRANCISCO 


THEUHIOM  uTMO.ca&r. 


393225 

YB   15693 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALlFORNl^s 


